Why do the French drive on the right?
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The other day I was listening to the radio, and they talked about why the English drive on the right. 
I had never heard an explanation for this, and I guess most of you haven't either, so I thought I will publish a short article about the subject..
"In the past when people passed each other on the road they should be in the best possible position to use their sword to protect themselves. As most people are right handed they therefore keep to their left.
This practice was formalized in a Papal Edict by Pope Boniface around 1300 AD who told pilgrims headed to Rome should keep to the left.
Nothing much changed until 1773 when an increase in horse traffic forced the UK Government to introduce the General Highways Act of 1773 which contained a keep left recommendation.
Reasons to travel on the right are less clear but the generally accepted version of history is as follows: The French, being Catholics, followed Pope Boniface’s edict but in the build up to the French Revolution in 1790 the French Aristocracy drove their carriages at great speed on the left hand side of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right side for their own safety.
Come the Revolution, instincts of self preservation resulted in the remains of the Aristocracy joining the peasants on the right hand side of the road. The first official record of this was a keep right rule introduced in Paris in 1794 right. Later Napoleon enforced the keep-right rule in all countries occupied by his armies.
Britain's imperial expansion spread the keep left rule far and wide. This included India, Australasia and much of Africa."
